


Danganronpa V4: Flashback In Time

by kittyboygvndham



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Canon Gay Couple, Other, basically a much better kodaka, basically a much better version than Danganronpa rn, canon everything couple, everything representation, gay shit, i also add diversity, kodaka fight me, neopronoun representation, neurodivergent representation, there’s a few white ppl in here tho sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-12 05:28:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29504823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittyboygvndham/pseuds/kittyboygvndham
Summary: Rantaro Amami never would’ve thought staying at a school would be the scariest thing that happened to him, that is...until Monokuma came.Join 15-year-old, Rantaro Amami, as he's introduced to adventure, love, mystery, and everything in between.I don't know how to write summaries. My bad.
Kudos: 5





	1. Hello There

**Author's Note:**

> HELLO!  
> HUGE TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR THE FOLLOWING:  
> ⚠️ MENTIONS OF DR*GS, AB*SE ,S3XUAL ABUSE ,BLOOD AND DETAILED GORE (POSSIBLY) ,ANOTHER WARNING FOR DR*GS MAINLY BECAUSE THERE’S A LOT OF POT MENTION, ALCOHOL, EATING DISORDER MENTION, SENSITIVE CONTENT, AND IF YOU HAVE A RANTARO AMAMI/TSUMUGI SHIROGANE/MONOKUMA TRIGGER THEN I ADVISE YOU NOT TO READ THIS ⚠️

The dust-coated steps echoed through the narrow circular hallway as the teenage adventurer tiptoed down the stairs toward the basement, steadily holding onto the aged railing. No light weeped through the cracked half-chandeliers on the thinning walls, causing the adventurer to use light from his phone, which was half-way close to dying. Even though it seemed bright outside, from the little sparks of light shining from the rotting bricks, the adventurer still wanted to use his phone.

The cracks from the bricks seeped out the frost from outside, making the adventurer shiver, almost dropping his phone. Although he had a jacket tied around his bruised waist, the adventurer refused to untie it to wear and warm himself up, it was just how he was. He was carefree but yet difficult to read, it was like people could never figure out how he was as a person.

But yet-- neither did he. He didn’t mind his minor existential crisis though, he just thought that was what smoking small blunts with foreigners did to you. He shook the thoughts from his head and decided that the icy-air coming from the cracked bricks was just too much for him now. So the adventurer decided to set down his phone on the cold step he was on, untied his jacket and then put it on around his shivering arms.

His arms held some muscle, mainly because he was an environment junkie and traveled and ran around the world to find foreign sensations. But now, he wasn’t at Hawaii with his mom and step-dad and talking to younger women that obviously had interest in him, he was in a big house that looked like the definition of “abandoned” and “scary.” Every wall had cracks or ripped wallpaper, every step made a weird noise, and every room held the same temperature and atmosphere: cold and silent.

Realizing he spaced out after putting his jacket on, the adventurer picked his phone back up and walked down the steps as he walked closer and closer to the door of the room that made the same hard deep sound that annoyed him. The adventurer finally made it to the door, where he could now hear the sound playing every other second.

_BANG.._

_…_

_BANG.._

_…_

_BANG.._

_…_

_BANG.._

Then it stopped. Curious, the adventurer opened the small door which revealed a large, half-lit, abandoned laundry room. But, of course, the laundry appliances weren’t making a sound, so the sounds he heard couldn't have come from there. He decided to look around some more with his phone light. There was one flickering ceiling light that worked, but it didn’t help him with finding the new secrets in the room he found.

The walls were cracked and reeked of old flesh and death, which annoyed the adventurer but didn’t take a toll on him because he smelt a lot worse smells in the past. Old broken-down dryers and washers were bunched up against each other which radiated the same smell. The whole room looked like an abandoned dirty mess.

_‘What’s with the weird atmosphere here? Something must’ve happened here in the past.. ’_ The adventurer thought to himself, tracing his fingers through the cracks on the old wall, while the same noise he heard in the hallway crowded his ears. The noise sudden stopped as he heard another sudden sound--

“Shit!-”

It was someone’s voice. A someone that sounded a bit closer to the adventurer's age, weirdly enough. It came from the farther side of the room he stood in, where a big washing machine could be found. Just sitting there, collecting dust and occasional bangs here and there. A big pipe with another flickering ceiling light stood in front of the machine a few inches away, which would make a perfect spot for peaking at who or what made that noise.

The adventurer scattered behind the big pipe, although he could've sworn he saw someone glance at him as the washing machine was hit again. He couldn't really get a close look, but he studied the stranger carefully, with their moves and body language and what they looked like-- just in case he ran into them again if they went their unknown separate ways.

The light from his phone suddenly turned off. Confused, the adventurer checked his phone. It was dead. He sighed out of frustration and just stared at his phone, not paying attention to the washing-machine banger. Only his phone. And what an old phone it was. His mom got it for him on his 12th birthday, 3 years from now. Although his family was rich, they still bought cheap and old stuff-- which was why he was cursed with such an old phone. But, since one of his sisters was going to turn 12 soon, he would give the phone away to her, if he could find her at least..but he still figured his sister was still alive in the place he accidentally lost her in.

He still blames himself for that incident.

The adventurer looked up from the big pipe, realizing the person wasn’t there by the washing machine anymore. He glanced around, looking for him. But, fortunately, he saw him standing there and staring at him, poking the adventurer’s foot with his, with a chill smirk on his face. 

The adventurer stood up, tucking his phone away in his back pants pocket since it died, and stared at him back. Looking at the stranger now, he looked a bit more clear. He was a few inches taller than him and had bright blue hair that looked dyed. His eyes and skin color were a little unnoticeable because of the flickering light, but they looked darker. He could see that the blue-headed stranger wore a band hoodie with the sleeves scrunched up to his forearms, revealing a variety of colored rubber bracelets. 

The blue-haired person kinda resembled the adventurer a bit as well. Both boys looked chill and down-to-earth-- but it was mainly because the adventurer smoked pot and guessed the other guy did too. They also both had their ears pierced and also wore a few rings on their fingers, but the person had dried blood on his knuckles. 

The person must’ve seen how the adventurer was staring at the dried blood and bruises on his pale knuckles, so he shook both his hands and head in reassurance at him,

“Oh- no no, I didn't kill anyone or anything. I was just hitting the washing machine over there to work,” He pointed at the big washing machine in front of the pipe the two boys stood behind, “I promise I’m not a bad guy-- I didn't come back here to kill you or whatever, just wanted to mess around with you since you were spying on me.” He said but then remembered something, “Oh yeah, sorry, I haven’t introduced myself yet. My name’s Ryo Shoto,” He held his hand out for the adventurer to shake, “Ultimate Guitarist.”

The adventurer shook his hand and introduced himself as well, “Rantaro Amami. Ultimate Adventurer.”

Ryo sighed out of relief when Rantaro finished his introduction with his Ultimate, “You’re an Ultimate too, hm? I was worried I’d sound crazy introducing myself with it..” He said with a chuckle.

“Why’s that?”

“Because not a lot of people in my city were or are Ultimates, so I grew up thinking I was, like, the only special kid in the whole wide world-- you know.. kid stuff. But I had hope that I’d meet someone else with an Ultimate, and, luckily, you’re the ‘someone else.’”

Ryo explained to Rantaro, who just wore the same neutral-confused expression. Ryo seemed like the guy that had his dreams set up to expectations, y’know-- like the people that _had_ to achieve something before they died. He also picked at his fingers a lot when he talked, Rantaro noticed, which resulted in them looking really stubby and gross, but Rantaro knew he shouldn’t comment on that-- that’d be a shit move.

“Oh,” Ryo added, “I also met a few people upstairs,” He pointed at the door Rantaro came out of, “I’m sure you probably saw them coming from the door or upstairs or whatever. One of them’s some British dude, probably at your height, and another looked really weird. Like, had a tail and fangs and all that.”

Rantaro shook his head, “No, the only person I met or saw was you and that’s it.”

“Oh.”

Ryo’s tone sounded disappointed, but Rantaro wasn’t able to ask what was wrong-- since he began speaking again,

“Well, we can come back upstairs and find them. They’re cool and colorful, in my opinion,” Ryo suggested, “Maybe we’ll find other people just for the hell of it..”

“Yeah,” Rantaro nodded, “Good idea.”

The two boys went to the door and walked out of the laundry room, up the hallway stairs again, feeling the icy air from the brick cracks again. Ryo shivered from the cool air, rolling down his sleeves. Rantaro, on the other hand, was fine mainly because he quickly adapted to the air. The two just went up the hallway stairs, not talking to each other while they journeyed through. The only light they had now was the light from the brick cracks, and that wasn’t even enough to shine an entire inch of stairs.

Rantaro wished he had his phone back and charged again, but unfortunately, it was dead for good. He still hoped to find a charger somewhere though. Knowing he and Ryo couldn't survive another step without knowing where they were going, they both decided to hold onto each other’s hands-- just in case one of them got hurt or bumped into something. 

Conversation began to spark again.

“So, about the washing machine thing-”

“Yeah?”

“Um, why were you banging at it again? Like, why did you want the machine to work?”

Ryo thought for a bit before answering Rantaro’s question, “..If I tell you..you promise not to tell anyone?”

Rantaro nodded, “Yeah.”

“These,” Ryo guided Rantaro’s hand to his pants, “aren’t even my pants. I found them while walking through here and wanted to wash them before putting them on. But the washing machine isn't working so.. I just put the pants on and started hitting the machine just in case it could work that way.”

“..What kind of washing machine works by someone hitting it multiple times?”

“....I don’t know,” Ryo shook his head in his self-disappointment, “I thought it was a good idea, that’s all that matters, right?”

Rantaro hesitantly replied, “I guess so.”

The boys ended their conversation there, until Rantaro added one last thing,

“Ryo.”

“Hm?”

“Your hand is still..um..having my hand touch your leg.”

“Hm? ..Oh! My bad,” Ryo knocked Rantaro’s hand off his pant leg, “..You still wanna hold hands or-”

“No.”

“Alright.”

The stairs slowly came to an end as an entrance could be seen from the top. Appearing more closely, the entrance revealed a big hallway with a few big banners hanging down the thin, dull, creamed walls. There was a long dirty rug on the floor as a substitute for a walking space, a few red and green threads popping out here and there. Light shined through the hallway, which made the two boys both curious…

Why was it so sunny in the hallway? Was it day time? Was it a trap? Why does this whole building have the same “abandoned and creepy” atmosphere? Why was their blood on the banners and walls? Why did the rug look gross?

These questions flew through Rantaro’s head as he and Ryo walked through the entrance to see the whole hallway. The banners looked clearer, and by clearer.. they had rips and tears and looked like they were on their last breath of life. The stitching on the banners were almost coming off as well, but Rantaro tried to still read what it said, tilting his head his very best,

“Welcome..to..the Inteeerrrr...Internatioonn..nal..International H-

“International Hope Academy.” A new voice spoke.

Rantaro and Ryo looked behind at the new voice, which revealed another male about the same height as Rantaro. Rantaro figured it was the guy that Ryo talked about downstairs, because the guy had a rich British accent. He appeared like he flew planes for a living also: White button down tucked into dark blue slacks with dress shoes and a tie with a plane pin with a dark blue aviator hat.

“...What?”

“International Hope Academy. The words you struggled with?” The boy replied to Rantaro’s confusion, “It’s an academy for people with Ultimates everywhere around the world. It used to be a strict dormitory for bad kids, I believe. Now it’s a more strict dormitory after an incident that happened here.” He explained. 

Ryo bumped Rantaro’s arm and whispered in his ear,

“That’s the British guy I talked about.”

“Yeah, I can tell.” He whispered back.

Ryo turned his head back at the guy, who nodded at him,

“Ryo.”

“Mizusu.”

The dark blue-dressed teen, known as Mizusu, stared at Rantaro, as if waiting for him to introduce himself. Rantaro figured it out and held out his hand,

“My name is Rantaro Amami. Ultimate Adventurer.”

Mizusu shook it with a smile, “Mizusu Mori. Ultimate Pilot.”

_‘So I *was* right,’_ Rantaro thought to himself. Rantaro glanced at Mizusu’s hand as they shook. A watch. One of those watches that look expensive to own but cheap to buy. He squinted to try and see the time on the watch, which read in crooked numbers. Maybe Rantaro needed glasses.

But, fortunately, Mizusu could tell Rantaro needed help and let go of his hand to see what the time was. Judging by his eyes that read frustration and disappointment, Mizusu probably couldn't tell what the time was either. Ryo noticed and offered some help, Mizusu thanked him but declined,

“It reads the same time I saw last time, 11:06 a.m., which was probably 5 minutes ago. I don’t know why it’s glitching on me like this-- I literally started wearing it a month ago,” Mizusu groaned in frustration just by looking at his glitched watch, hitting it a few times but gave up trying to make it work again.

Mizusu looked up and squinted his eyes,

“Or, instead of telling the time, you could just look up there.”

Rantaro and Ryo followed Mizusu’s actions. There, on the big crooked ceiling, was a huge sun window shining throughout the hallway. Judging from the bright sun and the puffs of clouds huddling together, Rantaro guessed it was nice outside. But then he remembered all the cold air coming from downstairs, so it probably wasn't nice out after all. 

The boys quickly averted their eyes from the window, fearing the shining sun would blind them. Rantaro scratched at the back of his neck, blinking a few times to study his eye-sight again. Ryo did the same, and so did Mizusu. They then just stood there after their conversation about time and broken watches, glancing around and not knowing what else to do or talk about. 

“Did you and Rantaro find any other people?” Mizusu spoke up at Ryo, “Other than me and Forty-Nine?”

“Forty-Nine?”

Rantaro tried to remember if anything Ryo said would maybe connect to this new person he heard about. He remembered Ryo talking about Mizusu, the person that’s the same height as him, and he also talked about someone that was weird looking….someone that had a tail and stuff..? 

“Is Forty-Nine the person you talked about that has the tail and fangs and stuff?” Rantaro asked Ryo, looking at both him and Mizusu, who looked surprised that Rantaro knew this much,

“Yeah, that’s who I was talking about,” Ryo replied back, “They’re a real jack-in-a-box, if anything.”

“Agreed, I wouldn’t be surprised if they popped up right now,” Mizusu added in a tone that was almost like he wanted this new person to pop up out of nowhere, which was weird.

Suddenly, the boys heard a rattle from somewhere. That somewhere being possibly up….near the sun window they almost blinded them. Rantaro squinted and glanced up to see no-one..until the sun window opened and out came a white figure with something long attached to it. Rantaro couldn’t really see what this new person looked like though. Mainly because when they fell out, they fell on Rantaro.

“Augh!-” Rantaro yelled out, plopping to the floor with a weird stranger on top of him. He felt a scratch on his right cheek, which came from something sharp on the person who fell on Rantaro. Though, he didn’t know _what_ scratched him. Rantaro pushed the stranger off of him after gaining his strength after the fall, which revealed the stranger.

It was a smaller...thing with piercing white skin and hair. They smiled widely, fangs ‘n all, as they stared at Rantaro back. Their tail wagging in excitement. They had nothing but a big t-shirt on that revealed a variety of numbers: #0049886. 

They took Rantaro’s hand and shook it as fast as possible, the other two boys stood back as the stranger played with their new so-called “boy-toy”,

“Hello! I’m the Ultimate Test Subject, Subject #0049886! But ya can call me Forty-Nine! Your hand is really soft, I like soft hands! Ya look cool and tall! Why are ya tall? Is it because ya eat veggies? What kinda veggies do ya like? Is it broccoli? Is that why your hair is green? I like your jacket! Blue’s my favorite color! Why is your cheek bleeding? Did I hurt ya? Sorry! Look at my nails!”

Forty-Nine surrounded Rantaro with endless questions and statements, shoving their nails in front of Rantaro’s face. They were long, of course, and appeared very healthy. They almost appeared like claws. Forty-Nine was pulled back by Mizusu, yelping out at the sudden grab,

“Forty-Nine please do be careful! You hurt Rantaro and almost hurt yourself,” Mizusu said to Forty-Nine, whose skin changed into blue from the scold but changed back after Forty-Nine began to speak again,

“But I was checking outside! It’s so warm out there!” Forty-Nine complained, pulling out of Mizusu’s touch and threw their hands up, “And I playeeedd and playyyedd out there and danced like a ballerina!” They mocked the movements of a ballerina to show how they danced outside, “Oh! I also found these!”

Forty-Nine grabbed something from under their shirt and pulled it out to show the three other boys. They were blue wilted flowers that were frozen from the frost outside, which confused Rantaro as to why Forty-Nine said it was warm out.

“Wait- so it’s _not_ cold outside?” Ryo asked them.

“Oh, no. For humans it’s _freezing_ out! ..I think. But I can’t feel cold like ya people! I feel the opposite,” Forty-Nine explained with a grin.

“So, what exactly are you?” Rantaro asked with curiousness.

“I dunno. I think I’m either an alien or just a thing! I never asked the big folks at my lab,” Forty-Nine scratched the back of their ear, “They’re really old and nice!”

“Where’s your lab at?”

“America! The big folks tell me that we live in a secluded section called Kansas!” 

“Did a tornado transport you to Oz yet?” Ryo chuckled.

“...What?”

“N-Nothing,” Ryo frowned, “Forget I said anything.”

After Ryo’s failed joke, the four stood in an awkward silence before Mizusu spoke up,

“Do you want to find some more people? We could possibly team up into two of two?” Mizusu pulled out two walkie talkies from his back pocket, “I found these in the storage room near a big locked door.” He threw the other one to Rantaro, who caught it.

“So, if we see someone, we just speak into this?” Rantaro questioned, “Even so, how would we know where we are when we speak into this?”

“Turn it on and find out.”

Rantaro switched the walkie talkie on, which sounded a quiet beeping noise that flashed a small red light. He figured it out immediately,

“Oh, it’s a tracker too?”

“Correct,” Mizusu said, “When we find another person or more, simply just speak into the walkie talkie. It could be anything of the sort. And then the other team finds the other. It’s not that hard to comprehend, so this so-called ‘mission’ will be easy.”

“Oh oh! I call going with Ryo!” Forty-Nine exclaimed, holding onto Ryo’s arm.

“That’s fine,” Mizusu threw the walkie talkie he held at Ryo, who caught it but then dropped it. “So Rantaro and I will team up, and Ryo and Forty-Nine will team up as well. Perfect.”

“Ok! Bye guys!” Forty-Nine took Ryo’s hand and sprinted down the right side of the hall, which revealed a staircase upstairs and another hallway. Rantaro could see Ryo struggling to run with the alien as they journeyed through. 

“Alright, let’s go, Rantaro,” Mizusu said, walking away, “We’ve got a journey ahead of us.”

Rantaro nodded and followed after the British pilot.


	2. The Dead Bird

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO!  
> HUGE TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR THE FOLLOWING:  
> ⚠️ MENTIONS OF DR*GS, AB*SE ,S3XUAL ABUSE/R4PE ,BLOOD AND DETAILED GORE (POSSIBLY) ,ANOTHER WARNING FOR DR*GS MAINLY BECAUSE THERE’S A LOT OF POT MENTION, ALCOHOL, EATING DISORDER MENTION, SENSITIVE CONTENT, AND IF YOU HAVE A RANTARO AMAMI/TSUMUGI SHIROGANE/MONOKUMA TRIGGER THEN I ADVISE YOU NOT TO READ THIS ⚠️

Mizusu and Rantaro began their journey as they walked down the left side, which resembled just like the right side of the hall. The two decided on taking the other hallway instead of the stairs. The hallway appeared to actually look neat except for the white tape on the floor, which gave both the boys an eerie feeling. Mizusu spoke up,

“There’s an infirmary somewhere in this school, I believe. We can go there and patch your cheek up. I know they already apologized but I’m sorry on their behalf-- they’re very energetic.”

“Are you two childhood friends or something?” Rantaro asked Mizusu, “You’re always looking after them and stuff like you’re their older brother or friend..y’know?”

Mizusu hesitated before answering, “Forty-Nine just reminds me of someone I knew. Nothing special. We met a few hours ago and they info-dumped on me a ton and, in their words, ‘claim me as their Big Folk until we get out of here.’”

“Oh, so you’re like.. their dad until we find a way to escape?”

Mizusu cringed at that word, “Not really, in other words: I’m the sober friend and Forty-Nine’s the drunk friend. I just make sure they don’t get themselves killed, since they don’t know any better on what or what not to do. It’s not like I baby them either, they just act like one.”

“..Do they even have a brain?” Rantaro chuckled.

“I’m sure they do, they’re very very intelligent. It’s just that Forty-Nine doesn't use their brain a lot for easy stuff like, don’t fall through sun windows and fall on people you just met.” Mizusu explained, “....So you and Ryo met. How was it?”

“Um, weird. I thought he was gonna kill me because I was spying on him. Ryo’s cool though. He’s laid-back and chill too. I kinda wanna be like him when I’m 18, y’know?”

“Ah, so you already look up to someone you just met?” Mizusu asked, “I don’t blame you. Grunge teenagers impact someone a lot more than a regular teen, even though Ryo smells like frozen cannabis and motherly washing detergent.”

“...You smelt him?”

“.....No,” Mizusu crossed his arms, “I most definitely didn’t.”

The boys walked for a bit in silence until Mizusu added something,

“Also, Ryo’s 16. Not 18.”

“..Oh.”

“I thought he was 18 too, I was really happy that I wouldn’t be the oldest here, but no- He’s 16, Forty-Nine’s...some age….and I’m 17.”

“I’m 15. Have been for, like, a few months now.”

“Interesting, you’re tall for someone under 16- Oh! Look there,” Mizusu pointed at a very dark section of the hallway they walked through. It was weird though, because the rest of the hallway had working lights-- but this section didn’t.

The section was small but appeared huge because of the dark that swallowed the section. The broken light that hung above swung. The threading that held onto the light grew old and broke, letting the light fall into the pool of blood in the rusted drinking fountain. The drinking fountain was in between two bathroom doors: one was opened and the other was closed. 

“Forty-Nine and I met Ryo in there,” Mizusu explained, “ “We also came across a few decaying birds there near the men’s bathroom door. Forty-Nine is keeping one as a pet the next time we come across this hallway. They wanted me to pick one up.” Mizusu shivered.

“...And this is your second time coming across this hallway-”

“If you’re telling me that I need to pick up a dirty dead bird on the bathroom floor for an alien teen to keep as a corpse pet then I absolutely refuse.” Mizusu interrupted Rantaro, gagging a little at the thought of picking up a dead bird and keeping it in a cage.

“I can pick it up if you want me to,” Rantaro walked near the bathroom, seeing the pile of decaying birds closer now. The birds were really tiny, probably babies, and had really wet feathers. Mizusu stood where he was, disgusted out of his mind at the fact that Rantaro would even be fine with touching this much death, but Rantaro was fine with it.

He touched much worse.

Rantaro studied closely at the one he decided on to grab: A much bigger baby bird whose head was the only head that wasn't either smushed to gore or missing. The bird had a pretty color to it’s complexion as well-- with its yellows and blues.

_‘A blue-and-yellow tanager..’_ Rantaro thought and smiled in awe, _‘I hope Forty-Nine likes this.’_

The men’s bathroom door opened in front of him, revealing the dirtied floor and puddles of toilet water, some of the water splashing onto the dead pile of birds. Rantaro stood up, putting the bird in his pocket, as Mizusu shuffled closely next to Rantaro.

“You don’t have to follow me in here if you’re scared. I’m fine,” Rantaro said to him in a lower tone.

“I’m not scared.”

“Mizusu, you’re literally shaking next to me.”

Mizusu glanced at him holding onto Rantaro and the feeling of his shaky hands, he sighed defeatedly,

“..I just don’t want something to happen to you. T..That’s all..”

The boys went into the bathroom. It had an old-timey vibe to it, with old tiles and a broken bathroom mirror and a water-damaged ceiling. Rantaro could hear the faint sound of two voices bickering from inside one of the ruined bathroom stalls, one sounded like a guy and the other a girl. 

The boys decided to check the stalls to see their new acquaintances, or possible enemies. Rantaro checked the first stall as Mizusu checked the other, continuing stall after stall-- the bickering getting a bit loud as they grew near. Rantaro figured they probably weren’t in the stalls after all. And that’s when Mizusu and Rantaro figured out, after the last stall they checked, they leaned a bit to the right and saw it..

A thin door opening with a big sign. **_Shower-house_ **.

That’s where the bickering lived at as well, hearing the lively argument between two strangers. Though, without knowing the whole story, Rantaro kinda hoped the girl won because of her spunky tone. Her tone also sounded a bit different, other than spunk-- it was like a small Indian accent of some kind, along with the boy’s faint Australian one. 

Mizusu stepped ahead of Rantaro and slowly opened the bathhouse door to reveal the big shower-house. Unlike everything else, it actually turned out to be quite nice. Showers were planted here and there, shower tiles revealed to be new, and although some of them weren’t on at the moment, bunches of small lights shined in the shower-house ceiling. The walls were colored with a reddish brown then there was a huge hole near the pipeline of one of the showers-- debris landed on slippery flooring and a tallish red-head boy sat there, staring at Mizusu and Rantaro after they walked in.

“...Um-” The boy glanced at the girl, who he was arguing with, and the two again. He quickly brushed the debris off his hair and stood up, coughing up a few clouds of dust, “Hey.”

“Hello,” Mizusu answered, “What...happened here?”

“Oh nothing much, except for the fact that _this_ punk dropped practically half the ceiling on me!” He pointed at the hole near the pipeline, some debris still dropping here and there, “I didn’t even do anything wrong,” The boy glared at the girl whose mouth hung open in disbelief,

“I didn’t even know you were in here!”

“Then _why_ are you ruining shower-house walls? Do you do demolition or something?”

“Uh, yeah?” The girl flicked some of the debris off of her then off of the boy. She stared at Rantaro and Mizusu who just watched their argument, “Nico Katari, Ultimate Demolitionist. I was just trying to find a way out, in all honesty. I didn’t know I’d break through the ceiling to some shower-house and fall on some Australian dude.”

“...You tried to find a way out….by venturing through the pipelines in the ceiling?” Rantaro asked Nico, pointing at the ceiling.

“Yes, actually. The pipelines are very big and roomy, so I just decided to give it a shot. Y’know, YOLO.”

The Australian boy just stared at Nico before rubbing his head again, “..Cooper Taylor. Ultimate Movie Animal Trainer.”

“..What?” Mizusu sounded confused by Cooper’s Ultimate, and honestly, so did Rantaro. Cooper could see their confusion and decided to explain it to them,

“I train animals in movies and I have been for a while. I usually train bigger animals but sometimes little animals like dogs are involved.”

“Did you keep any of the dogs?” Mizusu spoke up.

“..If I tell you, you won’t tell anybody else, right?” Cooper glanced at the people around him, all who nodded, “I don’t need a bunch of people asking me if I can steal an animal for them too, y’know.”

“I mean- I won’t really be able to tell anyone right now. We’re kinda stuck in a dormitory with no way out, but yes I won’t tell.”

“...I got to keep one of the chihuahuas I trained, since the owners were dead ‘n all and the chihuahua was just movie owned-- so they let me keep him.”

“What did you name him?” Nico asked.

“Toodles.”

“Toodles..?” 

“Yeah, Toodles. Wonderful puppy but he poops everywhere. He’s getting better, though.”

“That’s good,” Rantaro grinned, then he remembered the walkie talkie rule: When you find someone or more, just say something random into the talkie. He turned it on, “Toodles.”

“What?”

“Oh, uh, Mizusu and I have this walkie talkie, and my friends Ryo and Forty-Nine have the other one. Basically if we find anyone else here or find anything at all, we just speak something into this and it’ll track where we’re at.” Rantaro explained to Cooper.

“Who names their kid ‘Forty-Nine’? Were they on drugs?” Nico asked.

“Forty-Nine’s actually a test experiment from scientists in Kansas. They’re very talkative, just to alert you beforehand, and they don’t know what’s right to say,” Mizusu bit at his lip, “I’ve had my feelings hurt from them many times.” His voice lowered in simple embarrassment.

“So.. they’re like an alien?” Cooper asked.

“Kinda, they just don’t look like your _typical_ alien,” Rantaro said, “Also, I’m not sure we really introduced ourselves yet, my bad. My name’s Rantaro Amami and I’m the Ultimate Adventurer.” He motioned towards Mizusu, “And this is Mizusu Mori. The Ultimate Pilot-”

“How many planes have you flown?” Nico interrupted.

“Oh my, I- um- I haven’t really counted,” Mizusu chuckled nervously, “But probably a few hundred..? I’m not entirely sure.”

“Have you crashed one before?”

“If I did, I’m not sure that I’d be labeled the Ultimate Pilot then,” Mizusu replied, “I almost did once though, but it was because of my dad.”

“Why was it because of your dad? Did he die during flight or something?”

“Oh...I wish, but no-- he just kept messing with the controls and asked a bunch of questions. I’m quite lucky I didn’t crash it after half of the controls being messed with. There weren’t any people on the plane either, just a test fly is all.”

“..Why did you just wish death on your own dad?” Cooper’s eyes widened.

“Well I-”

“Hello!” Forty-Nine exclaimed, practically flying through the two boys until they plopped on the floor.

Ryo followed after them, out of breath from following Forty-Nine. He put an arm on top of Rantaro’s shoulder, panting. Rantaro just stared at Ryo as he calmed down, wondering how the hell Ryo wasn’t already dead yet from following the literal alien-embodiment of The Flash. 

“Are you Forty-Nine?” Nico asked them, leaning towards them to help them up from the floor.

“Yeah I am! Hello! Ya look really pretty! Why are ya bald though? Like bald everywhere?! Did ya get pranked? Ya still look pretty though! I really like your outfit too! Do ya humans choose what to wear all the time? Or is this a special privilege just for today?” Forty-Nine saw Cooper, “Oh hi! Ya look cool! I like the whistle necklace ya have on! Do ya own dogs? Ya look like ya own dogs!”

As Nico stood there flabbergasted from the questions Forty-Nine asked her, Cooper answered their question,

“Yes, I do own a dog. His name is Toodles and he’s a chihuahua,” Cooper smiled brightly, “Do you own a dog?”

“Nope! I’m not allowed to own one! Last time I owned an animal, my sister, Twenty-Six, ate it!” Forty-Nine answered with a cheeky smile.

“...Excuse me?”

“Yeah my sister just munch munch munched on ‘em and then they died!”

“Well I, at least, _hope_ they died after being eaten alive..Jesus Christ-” 

“..I mean, did you eat the animal too?” Nico asked Forty-Nine.

“Of course! My sister said it was good so I ate with her! Guess what animal it was!”

“Was it a-”

“It was a snake!”

“You didn’t even let me guess….but wow- a snake? What kind?”

“I have no idea!”

Ryo finally stepped in after taking a few breathes, “Sorry about Forty-Nine here. They love info-dumping on strangers...I’m Ryo Shoto.. by the way. Ultimate Guitarist.”

“Oh niiicee, my sister once dated a guitarist,” Nico told Ryo, “Anyways, you in a band? Or are you a solo guitarist and make music for yourself?”

“A little bit of both. I travel a lot, kinda like Rantaro there, and find inspiration for stuff.” Ryo motioned towards Rantaro, who just spaced out on the ground.

_‘These people are really something. Ryo’s a dude that can’t joke for the life of him, Mizusu’s an old-time British guy that probably hates his dad, Forty-Nine’s just...Forty-Nine, Nico’s a spunky chick that can’t go a few seconds without putting men in there place-- probably, and Cooper’s a guy with a love for stealing movie chihuahuas.’_

“....taro?”

“Hm?”

“I said, ‘Did you find anything down here, Rantaro?’”

“Oh. Not really, no-- sorry, Ryo.” Rantaro replied, then he realized what was in his pocket, “Wait, nevermind, Forty-Nine?”

“What?”

“Here,” Rantaro took out the dead baby bird from his pocket, “Mizusu talked about you wanting one of the birds near the bathroom door, so I picked one up for you.” Rantaro gave Forty-Nine the bird, whose eyes were just about ready to pop out of excitement.

“Yay! Thank ya, Rantaro!” Forty-Nine hugged Rantaro, who hesitantly hugged back.

“..How did you not throw up while touching that?” Ryo asked.

“And how did you find those birds? There was never a pile of birds down where I came from,” Cooper pointed at the door on the other side of the shower-house, “It’s much cleaner there too.”

“Yeah, there’s a pile of dead baby birds on the side that Mizusu and I came through, right next to a broken light.”

“Oh, I might have to check that out then, sounds interesting,” Cooper replied, “..Oh, also, there’s a thing across ‘n down the hallway by my door that- like- could help your cheek there. Looks like it hurt.”

Rantaro picked at the wound on his cheek, accidentally picking off the dried scab that grew there. He forgot about the wound Forty-Nine was responsible for, since he was much more worried about other things happening like meeting Cooper and Nico, but then he just wiped the blood off his cheek without worry.

“So, what else is there behind the door you came through?” Ryo asked.

“Meh, just typical stuff. A closed down dining hall, I think? The room I mentioned to Rantaro. A few other doors. A big ass science room. Just...stuff like that.”

“A dining hall? Coolio! Can we try to open it if it’s closed?” Forty-Nine asked, jumping up and down in excitement, “I love food! I hope we meet someone that makes food!”

A rumbling stomach could be heard from the group of teenagers. They glanced from one to another, not knowing whose stomach was that hungry. That is, until Mizusu spoke up,

“That was my stomach, apologies. I guess I haven’t eaten in a while,” He admitted.

“Yeah, I’m kinda hungry too,” Nico added, “The only thing I’ve eaten here so far is dust.”

“And also me,” Cooper remarked, already walking to the door he talked about.

“I already _told_ you that I didn’t know you were here and that I’d fall on you!” Nico groaned, following him.

Rantaro, Ryo, Mizusu, and Forty-Nine followed the arguers to the door, which revealed what Cooper was saying: The hallway was much cleaner. Way cleaner than the other hallways that Rantaro and the others have been through. It had a nurse station across the hallway to the right— a little right next to the big wall window that was installed there.

Then the dining hall. The room that everyone was waiting for. It had two big doors and was there in the far left as they left the shower-house. One of the doors was left open. Rantaro could see some wooden board on the ground, so someone probably broke into the dining hall.

“You said that this dining hall was closed though, did you not?” Mizusu turned to Cooper, who looked just as surprised as they were.

“I- I honestly thought so. The doors were boarded up and stuff, so I just figured it was closed down due to this place being a complete mess,” Cooper explained, rubbing the back of his neck, “But— since it’s not, we can all eat now, right?”

“Hell yeah,” Ryo grinned, walking towards the open door.

Rantaro and the others followed Ryo into the dining room to seek more adventure and food.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading Chapter 2: The Dead Bird


	3. Hunger Of The Children

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO!  
> HUGE TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR THE FOLLOWING:  
> ⚠️ MENTIONS OF DR*GS, AB*SE ,S3XUAL ABUSE/R4PE ,BLOOD AND DETAILED GORE (POSSIBLY) ,ANOTHER WARNING FOR DR*GS MAINLY BECAUSE THERE’S A LOT OF POT MENTION, ALCOHOL, EATING DISORDER MENTION, SENSITIVE CONTENT, AND IF YOU HAVE A RANTARO AMAMI/TSUMUGI SHIROGANE/MONOKUMA TRIGGER THEN I ADVISE YOU NOT TO READ THIS ⚠️

The dining hall had sweet aromas filling the room, aromas like coconut and cherry and other wonderful fruit mixtures. There was someone in the kitchen, which wasn’t _too_ far away from where the others stood. Messy tables were planted everywhere, and a broken television sat on the right side of the floor, glass shattered everywhere. Tons of rotting food basically stuck onto the floor, and a few parts of the ground had sweat spots that made it obvious that food was removed.

“This dining room looks like it got into the neatest food fight ever,” Nico commented, “How the hell did kids even make this mess?”

“You say ‘kids’ like you’re not one either..” Cooper commented.

“...I’m two years away from being able to say that, so I figured I’d start criticizing children anyways,” Nico replied, walking away to investigate the television.

“Watch her break that television more right now,” Cooper lowered his voice to Mizusu and Rantaro.

Nico took a long look at the television before picking up a small rock that was on the floor and smashed it into the television, destroying it more.

“Told you.” 

Rantaro couldn’t help but chuckle at Cooper and Nico’s small feud.

“I think I see someone making something!” Forty-Nine pointed at the figure in the kitchen, which had a big space to where you could see what they were doing. The figure had a womanly shape but appeared much bigger. Rantaro could see blonde bouncing curls from the figure as well. 

“I’m gonna go say hi! They seem nice!” Forty-Nine sprinted into the kitchen, which resulted in the figure screaming. Must’ve been because Forty-Nine’s not your average teenager, but Rantaro still felt bad for both parties. He and Mizusu, followed by Ryo and Cooper, leaving behind Nico who was “playing” with the television, ran into the kitchen, which revealed the scene:

The figure, a smaller big girl with a baking or waitress sort of outfit that was colored all periwinkle and pink, stood above Forty-Nine, who laid on the floor with grey skin, maybe a color for hurt or embarrassment, and a noticeable handprint on their cheek.

“I’m terribly sorry that Forty-Nine scared you! I’m sure they didn’t mean to,” Mizusu said to the girl, helping Forty-Nine up who just held onto their cheek.

“Well maybe teach your little friend a lesson on how to _not_ scare a girl while bakin’. I could’ve accidentally burnt them with the stove! Or even worse!” She exclaimed, a noticeable country accent flowed with her yelling.

After a minute of silence she calmed down, “Aw, I’m terribly sorry also. I shouldn’t have reacted like that, _especially_ towards someone new.” She took Forty-Nine’s hand and gently shook it, “My name’s Isabel Rosa. And I just wanna apologize again for hittin’ you— I was just startled is all.”

“I’m guessing you’re the Ultimate Baker? Since you’re in here...baking?” Ryo asked.

“Oh, y’all say your Ultimates out loud while introducin’ yourself or somethin’? I keep quiet with mine,” Isabel grinned, “But sure, I’m the Ultimate Pastry Chef! Nice to meet all of you...even though I don’t even know y’all’s names.” She giggled.

Rantaro and the group introduced themselves to Isabel, who just smiled with glee at them while carrying on with her baking. It smelt good, like blueberry and cinnamon and a little hint of coconut. Rantaro wondered, _‘Why would someone just...bake when they’re in a random school? Is this her way of coping with what’s happening?’_

Forty-Nine jumped onto the counter, next to where Isabel’s mixing bowl was placed, dipping in a finger and tasting what was in the bowl. Mizusu followed with a finger, and so did Cooper, and then Ryo, but Rantaro passed.

“Don’t get full on the batter now, I’m makin’ a ton of stuff and I hope y’all will join me in a little stress eatin’.”

“Is that why you’re not really skinny?” Forty-Nine asked which resulted in Mizusu glaring at them.

Isabel stared at Forty-Nine before answering, “Actually, no, it’s a genetic thing my family has. We’re all a bit chunky back at my place,” She smiled, “Also, just a B.T.W. since I know you don’t know any better, but don’t ask people why they look fat. It’s considered rude to humans.”

“Ohh! Ok, sorry!” Forty-Nine apologized, then jumped off the counter and ran out of the kitchen to get Nico.

Isabel watched Forty-Nine leave then began to speak again while baking,

“I’m guessin’ they don’t have a Mama to teach them manners? How old are they anyways?”

“I believe, in human years, 16, but that’s just me guessing,” Mizusu answered, "I never really asked them."

“You’re their adoptive daddy or somethin’?”

“I- um- No. No, I’m not. Forty-Nine and I just met a few hours ago, I’m just their so-called ‘protector’ until we escape this school.”

“Really? So like a boyfriend of some kind?” Isabel asked, “I ain’t judgin’, my auntie’s g-”

“NO. No. I- We-...Forty-Nine and I are _not_ together or a couple. We’re just a team. Just a team.”

“You sound like you’re telling _yourself_ that,” Cooper remarked with a chuckle, “....Joking. Just joking, mate. My bad.”

“Who did you offend this time?” Nico walked through the kitchen with Forty-Nine.

“None of your business.”

Rantaro leaned closer to Isabel to examine what exactly she was cooking up next: Lemon pie.

“Lemon pie? Where’d you find lemons or anything else here?”

“I scouted for them-- and, lucky for me, I found a box of fresh food down at a storage closet. There were a few other fresh food boxes but I figured that no one would stress eat with kale or canned corn.”

“Ah, makes sense.”

“So...Ran...Ranny..? Wait- what’s your name again? I forgot.” 

“Rantaro.”

  
  
“Oh- I knew it. Rantaro, I’m sorry. Anyways, Rantaro, is it possible if you and a friend check on a few friends of mine in the nurse station? One’s tall and dark with a headscarf, the other’s got a pink headscarf, and the other has brunette hair in a ponytail and looks really intimidatin’. Pink got hurt while tryin’ to chop some chocolate, and Brunette got frustrated and accidentally hit her chin on that--'' Isabel pointed at the mixer with some dried blood on the spinner, “I tried cleanin’ it the best I could but it still stains.”

“Sure, Ryo and I will check on them.”

“Oh goodie! Thanks so much! I’ll try ‘n get your friends to help me bake so I’ll be done sooner!”

Rantaro and Ryo walked out of the kitchen while the others helped Isabel in the kitchen. Rantaro still had his walkie talkie, and Ryo gave his to Mizusu just in case. Rantaro figured he’d bring Ryo, mainly because they haven’t talked in a while after teaming up, and he also trusted Ryo a bit more than Mizusu in all honesty.

“So, we’re looking for a pink headscarf, a tall one with a headscarf, and a girl with brunette hair. Right?” Ryo asked.

“Yeah, and they’re all in the nurses station,” The boys walked out of the dining hall and turned on their left, “Hopefully they don’t ask for help, because I’m not a doctor.”

“Me neither.”

“So that’s another thing in common we have, nice.” Rantaro grinned at Ryo, who smiled back.

They reached the nurse station which revealed the sound of small muffled whimpers here and there. Ryo glanced at Rantaro with unease, but Rantaro still opened the door to the nurse station.

A tall dark girl with a multicolored headscarf leaned back to see Rantaro and Ryo, motioning them to come in. They did.

“Did Isabel send you?” The girl asked, her soft African accent could be heard even though her talking was hushed.

“Yes,” Ryo answered, “She wanted us to check up on you guys.”

“Hm, I’m surprised she sent you here. She’s not a big fan of men,” The girl responded.

Rantaro glanced around the nurses station which revealed to be, actually, really neat: It was a small station with three beds and a few cabinets everywhere in the room. A small table was placed in the left-side middle of the room, which a girl with a pink headscarf sat, tears streaming down her face with her left hand wrapped.

“So, are you a doctor?” Rantaro asked.

“Kind of. I’m the Ultimate Dentist, but I have medical experience with other things,” She stood up and walked towards Rantaro and Ryo, holding out her hands, “Zuri Ruto.”

They both shook her hands and introduced themselves.

Zuri smiled, “Nice to meet you both. The one on the table is Amber Zuhayra, Ultimate Blogger, and the girl next to her is Frida Korri, who doesn’t know her Ultimate yet.”

Amber waved at Rantaro and Ryo, and Frida simply just ignored them. Rantaro looked at Amber first, then Zuri, then Frida lastly. They all appeared differently: Amber was tan with a pink headscarf and olive overalls. She looked skinny, but not deathly thin. Zuri, on the other hand, was more on the average side in weight and wore a white dental coat over a light brown button-up blouse and blackish brownish slacks. Lastly, Frida wasn’t very noticeable because she was staring down at the floor, but her expression appeared annoyed or just plain-- just like her outfit, a turtleneck sweater with a fluffy-looking coat and skirt.

_'They all look friendly in their own way,’_ Rantaro thought, _‘I just hope Frida isn’t really nasty.’_

“Is Isabel done baking yet?” Amber asked.

“No, she’s still baking. I think she’s baking Lemon pie right now.” Rantaro explained.

“Oh,” Zuri frowned, “I should’ve told her I’m allergic.”

“To pie?” 

“To lemons,” Zuri put the first aid kit away that she used on Amber, putting it in the upper cabinet near the small nurse bathroom, “Don’t worry though, I just won’t eat it.”

Amber hopped off the table, walking out of the nurse station to see Isabel again. Frida followed. Zuri cleaned the table then glanced up at the two boys still standing there,

“I suggest that you don’t wait for me, if that’s what you’re doing. Just leave and maybe check out the science room that’s across from here, I think I saw someone in there but when I knocked on the door, they didn’t do anything.”

Rantaro nodded, “Got it. See ya, Zuri.”

“Actually, wait.”

Zuri brought the first aid out of the cabinet again and motioned Rantaro to come closer to her, “Your cheek. What happened?”  
  


Rantaro did what Zuri wanted and watched her work on his cheek, “A friend of mine accidentally sliced it with their nail. It hurt for, like, a bit but then it stopped.”

“Was it the one with the tail?”

  
  
“Wh- I...Yeah. Forty-Nine’s their name.” 

“Figured, I saw you and your other friends leave that door and went into the dining room and caught a glimpse of Forty-Nine’s hands,” Zuri patched Rantaro up and put the first aid kit away again, “Long nails. I’m extremely envious of them.”

“Yeah..Thanks for doing this, by the way,” Rantaro thanked Zuri and walked out of the nurse station.

Ryo and Rantaro strolled through the hallway to check on the person Zuri mentioned. The science room had an old looking door with green paint on it and a rusted door knob. Ryo opened the door to reveal the science room: It was filled with electronic devices, half of them disconnected, and a separate big table in the middle of the room that held chemicals and liquids. A small girl held onto a few beakers, examining them.

“Uh, hey! I’m Ryo and This is Rantaro. Someone from the nurse station, down here, saw you and wanted us to check on you. You ok?”

The girl did nothing.

Ryo and Rantaro walked closer to the girl, “Hey, I think you couldn’t hear me over there bu-”

“Ryo,” Rantaro stopped his friend from saying anything else. Rantaro snapped his fingers just in case the girl wasn’t paying attention.

She did nothing.

Rantaro tapped the girl on the shoulder, who, surprisingly, turned around to see the two boys. She was really small, maybe 5’1 or 4’11, and she wore a long white coat, similar to Zuri’s but it was covered in stains or paint. Her dressing was casual with dull colors like grey and black and white, but her glasses were clear with a black striped design.

“Hi. Rantaro and I were talking to you near the door but I’m not sure you heard us, but we just wanted to make sure you were okay since you’re in here all alone,” Ryo said to her with a grin.

The girl’s expression appeared confused but she also looked like she understood what he said. Her hands put down the beakers and made random signs. One of them pointed to her ear. That’s when Rantaro knew why she didn’t respond sooner.

She was deaf.

“Ryo, she’s deaf,” Rantaro whispered to Ryo, whose mouth hung open in disbelief, either because he blabbered off to someone who couldn’t even hear him or because the thought of someone being deaf just made him shocked. Rantaro couldn’t tell which one it was.

“Ah, shit. Um-” Ryo looked around the room to see if he could grab something to write with to help the girl understand them. He found a small whiteboard and black marker and began to write.

“ **Me, Ryo, (blue hair) and my friend, Rantaro, (green hair) wanted to check if you were OK since you’re alone in this room. I don’t know sign language so I hope it’s OK if I use this. Sorry :)** “

Ryo handed the girl the white board and the black marker. She read the board and erased what was there to write her reply. She gave it back:

“ **I’m okay! Also, yes, this white board method would be alright. My name is Lauren Min-Jung, Ultimate Chemist! It’s okay if you don't know sign language, but does your friend know it?** “

Rantaro was handed the whiteboard to read what Lauren wrote, who was staring at Rantaro for a response. He looked up at her and nodded, which made Lauren smile with glee. Rantaro began to sign to Lauren:

_There is a big food thing going on in the dining room. Would you like to come?_

_What food?_

_Sweet stuff. A lot of sweet stuff._

_Yes. I would like to come._

“What exactly did you say to her?” Ryo asked.

“I asked her if she wanted to come to the dining room to join the food thing Isabel mentioned,” Rantaro reminded himself of Isabel, “Oh! We should probably check up on her and the others!”

“Good idea,” Ryo nodded and held his hand out just in case Lauren wanted to grab it. She declined and cleaned the beakers to put them away. After she was done, she took the whiteboard and marker and went out the door with Rantaro and Ryo to join them in the sweet feast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading Chapter 3: Hunger Of The Children


	4. The Feast (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO!  
> HUGE TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR THE FOLLOWING:  
> ⚠️ MENTIONS OF DR*GS, AB*SE ,S3XUAL ABUSE/R4PE ,BLOOD AND DETAILED GORE (POSSIBLY) ,ANOTHER WARNING FOR DR*GS MAINLY BECAUSE THERE’S A LOT OF POT MENTION, ALCOHOL, EATING DISORDER MENTION, SENSITIVE CONTENT, AND IF YOU HAVE A RANTARO AMAMI/TSUMUGI SHIROGANE/MONOKUMA TRIGGER THEN I ADVISE YOU NOT TO READ THIS ⚠️

Lauren’s walk was a bit faster than how Rantaro and Ryo walked, it was like a casual skip. Her black ponytail would swing every time her foot took another step, which was a bit satisfying to watch.

“Forty-Nine’s gonna have a ball with her in the dining room,” Ryo said to Rantaro, who just watched Lauren walk but still paid attention to what Ryo was saying. 

“Really?”

“Yeah, really. Knowing them, they probably never even  _ met  _ a deaf person before,” Ryo’s hands were planted in his pockets, “Imagine what they’d even say to her. They’d probably just keep talking to her like she can still hear.”

“Kinda like what you did back at the science room?”   
  


“I….Yeah, I guess so. It wasn’t like I never met a deaf person before, I guess I was just caught up since everyone else can hear and I just assumed she could too,” Ryo sighed, “Mizusu and Cooper are probably gonna bully me for doing that, won’t they?”

“I wouldn’t bet on it. Mizusu and Cooper don’t seem like the kind of people to do that. Especially Mizusu.”

“You throwing shade on Mizusu?” Ryo chuckled.

“No, not at all. I’m just saying that if he could get his feelings hurt by Forty-Nine, then he most definitely wouldn’t be able to bully you for accidentally mistaking a deaf person for a person that could hear,” Rantaro said, reaching the dining hall door and opened it for Lauren and Ryo, then walked in.

There were a few more people Rantaro and Ryo hadn't met that were cleaning some of the dining tables for eating, including Frida and Amber who was cleaning up the broken television. Isabel was seen bringing some treats out with the help of Mizusu. Forty-Nine and Cooper were seen licking off some of the mixing spoons.

Rantaro looked back at Lauren, who tapped his shoulder and placed the whiteboard and marker down, who signed at him:

_ Are we supposed to help? _

_ If you want to, yeah. _ Rantaro signed back.

Lauren nodded and went to pick up a rag and soap to clean one table near the door they came through. Rantaro and Ryo went back into the kitchen to see Isabel taking out some cookies. Forty-Nine and Cooper saw them and brought a spoon to their faces.

“Lick it! Lick it!” Forty-Nine exclaimed towards Rantaro, who obliged and licked it. He tasted the mysterious creamed mixture for a bit, trying to analyze the ingredients mixed into it.

_ ‘Cinnamon…..Apple….Maybe a hint of vanilla?’  _ Rantaro tasted it a bit more,  _ ‘Tasty..’ _

“This is good!” Ryo took another lick of the spoon, “Rantaro, what do you think?”

“It’s tasty. I like it.” 

Forty-Nine and Cooper smiled wide. Forty-Nine took Cooper’s spoon, licked it, and ran out the kitchen with both spoons. 

“Hey!” Cooper ran out of the kitchen to chase Forty-Nine for his spoon back. 

The boys watched Cooper and Forty-Nine sprint until Forty-Nine bumped into Lauren, who dropped the rag and soap.

“Oh shit..” Ryo and Rantaro jogged out of the kitchen towards them.

“Oh sorry! I didn’t see ya there!” Forty-Nine said to Lauren, “I like your glasses! Can I wear them?”

Lauren hesitantly stood back up and took the rag and soap off the ground so she could continue cleaning. Cooper and Forty-Nine still stood there as she cleaned.

“..Can ya hear us? Heeellllloooo?” Forty-Nine waved a hand in front of Lauren, who just smacked their hand away and continued cleaning, “Owie!”

“It’d be better if we leave her alone, Forty-Nine,” Cooper nodded at Lauren in apology then grabbed Forty-Nine’s hand and dragged them back in the kitchen. Isabel and Mizusu were also back in the kitchen while Nico and some other person were cleaning a table. Rantaro and Ryo walked up to Nico and the new person.

“Hey boys,” Nico threw down her cleaning rag on the table, “I see you brought in new meat?” She pointed at Lauren, who was cleaning a table.

“Yeah, we met her in the science room near the nurse station,” Rantaro explained to Nico, who leaned back onto the table to listen.

“Really? Cool, she looks like  _ such  _ a peach to talk to,” She rolled her eyes, “I saw what she did with Cooper and Forty-Nine. A simple ‘I’m busy’ would work or  _ something _ .”

“Yeah, uh, she’s deaf.”

“...Oh. Shit, I didn’t know,” Nico chuckled nervously, “My bad.”

The new person threw her rag down as well, “I hate cleaning.”

“Mood,” Nico replied. She nodded her head at the new person to Rantaro and Ryo, “Christina Elizabeth-Anne. Ultimate Model.”

Christina appeared as a much smaller girl with blonde hair tied down, probably because she was cleaning. She was like the definition of “Daddy’s Money,” wearing a hot pink tracksuit and boots like she walked out of a 2000’s Paris Hilton magazine of some sort. She dressed well for a model, obviously, but she was really skinny-- like deathly.

“Rantaro Amami, Ultimate Adventurer,” Rantaro shook Christina’s hand, then Ryo introduced himself and shook her hand as well.

“Sooo, why’re your names like that? Like, are you from Japan?”

“Yeah, I’m from Japan and so issss..” Ryo nodded at Rantaro, “So is Ryo.”

“Oh, well, if you’re from Japan..why are you dark?”

“Oh my god, Christina, you can’t just ask people why they’re dark,” Nico frowned at Christina.

“No it’s fine,” Rantaro shook his head, “Good question actually, I’m darkish..tannish because my mom’s also a tan asian and also because I travel a lot and go outside often.”

“Ohh, kay-kay. What about your dad?” Christina took her ponytail out and ran a few fingers through her hair.

“My dad left when my mom had me, so I don’t really talk about him or even know about him much,” Rantaro shrugged, “My mom then remarried when I was- like- 10.”

“Oh cool, my daddy remarries a lot,” Christina smiled at Rantaro, “So, we’re kinda like the same people, except I’m a girl from Ohio and you’re a boy from Japan.”

“Um, yeah. I guess so, ha ha,” Rantaro chuckled with a grin. 

“You guys should get back to cleaning, the food will probably be all done soon,” Ryo added, looking at the kitchen.

“As much as I would like to disagree, you’re right,” Nico rolled her eyes and picked her rag back up, “Cleaning tiiiimmmee.” She sang in a dull sing-song tone.

“See ya!” Rantaro waved and the two went into the kitchen, which had Isabel, Mizusu, Forty-Nine and Zuri. Isabel brought out the last of the sweets she made, while Forty-Nine planted their face in the mixing bowl once more. Mizusu saw the two and waved.

“You’re having fun, aren’t you?” Ryo laughed at Mizusu.

“Absolutely,” Mizusu smiled, “Isabel’s almost done with the food. Question, though, do you like cherries?”

“Mhm,” The boys both nodded.

“Well, you’re in luck, because Isabel made some really good cherry crepes,” Mizusu glanced at the plates set on the tables back in the dining room, “I had a bite of one. They make me feel really happy.” 

“I’ll try them once everything’s set,” Rantaro nodded, “Thanks for the recommendation.”

Forty-Nine lifted their head from the bowl and burped, “Hello guys!”

Forty-Nine stood up and put the bowl back on the counter. They then ran to one of Mizusu’s legs and wrapped around it. Mizusu stared at Forty-Nine, who just stared back. The two then walked out of the kitchen.

“...The hell was that all about?” Ryo asked.

“Small sugar crash, maybe,” Rantaro shrugged, “I’ve dealt with one like that before.”

“Or maybe drugs,” Ryo whispered, “There’s probably drugs hidden in th-”

“I can hear y’all, y’know,” Isabel turned around to look at the boys, “I never put drugs in my pastries. Only love and a bunch of sugar.”

“You sure? That sounds like something someone that bakes drugs into pastries would say…”

“Joke like that again and I might  _ actually  _ add heroin in everythin’ you eat.”

“Sorry.” 

Isabel pulled out a pan of cookies and handed them to Zuri, who had baking mittens on.

“Take this out to the dining room, will ya, darlin’?”

“Of course, these smell delicious,” Zuri carried the pan of cookies out to the dining room.

Isabel took off her baking mittens and clapped her hands together, a bit of sweat dripping from her blonde locks, “Everythin’s all set: tables cleaned, floor put together, plates of sweets all set out, and now we just need to put some tables together so we can all eat like a big family!” Isabel removed her apron on one of the hooks near the wide kitchen window.

“I still can’t believe you made all of that,” Rantaro commented, “They all look really good.”

“Thank you, Rantaro. I appreciate it,” Isabel began to wash her hands with the small sink near a corner of the kitchen, “Now go eat.”

The boys went back to the dining room, seeing Mizusu, Cooper, and another guy pull a few tables together to make a big table thing. Everyone else helped: grabbing plates for the food, cleaning some more spots in the dining room, etc. Nico and Amber were talking, Frida was already biting into a cream-filled cupcake, Forty-Nine was circling around Lauren, who was drawing on the whiteboard.

Isabel walked out of the kitchen and clapped her hands together so everyone paid attention. Well, everyone except Lauren. Rantaro tapped her shoulder so she could look up.

_ Isabel’s going to say a few things before we eat, _ Rantaro pointed at Isabel,  _ Do you want me to sign for you now or later? _

_ Now will be fine. Thank you. _

Rantaro walked up to Isabel’s side, whispering into her ear,

“I’m gonna sign for one of the people here, they’re deaf. That’s okay, right?”

“Of course,” Isabel whispered back, “Do whatever.”

Isabel then began her little speech, as Rantaro began signing the words for Lauren:

“I just wanna thank y’all for helpin’ me with everythin’. I really mean it. I’m so happy that I got so many hands to help me bake and clean up and everythin’, even though we’re stuck in this school for God knows what. I honestly thought that I’d just be Me, Zuri, Frida, and Amber that’d be enjoying these treats, but I was wrong. Y’all mean so much to me already. Y’all are just so kind and helpful, even though we’re stuck in a mess like this. So thank you, again. A thousand times again. I geniunely mean it,” Isabel put her hands to her chest and smiled, “Now let’s eat!”

As Isabel said that, a bunch of hungry teenagers ran to sit at the table to eat to their heart's, and stomach's, delight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading Chapter 4: The Feast (Part 1)


	5. The Feast (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO!  
> HUGE TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR THE FOLLOWING:  
> ⚠️ MENTIONS OF DR*GS, AB*SE ,S3XUAL ABUSE/R4PE ,BLOOD AND DETAILED GORE (POSSIBLY) ,ANOTHER WARNING FOR DR*GS MAINLY BECAUSE THERE’S A LOT OF POT MENTION, ALCOHOL, EATING DISORDER MENTION, SENSITIVE CONTENT, AND IF YOU HAVE A RANTARO AMAMI/TSUMUGI SHIROGANE/MONOKUMA TRIGGER THEN I ADVISE YOU NOT TO READ THIS ⚠️

The food was magnificent. People stuffed their faces with pie or crepes, dove their hands into warm chocolate pudding, divided jello into weird shapes to go into their mouths. Forty-Nine was the first one full, laying on the floor near Mizusu as they slept. Mizusu just sat at the table eating neatly, even though he had a sugar rush just a few minutes ago. Nico flung some pudding onto Cooper’s face, Cooper flung some souffl é at Nico’s face. Christina just sat there, watching her piece of raspberry cake, and then took a small bite of it.

“Oh my gosh I’m just soooo full now,” Christina licked her lips, “I just….caaan’t eat.”

“You sure, pumpkin? You barely ate that..” Isabel asked.

“Yeah, babes. I’m full. Besides, I’m on a diet. Can’t eat anything over 500 calories. Agent and doctor’s orders.”

“Oh, that’s ok. I understand,” Isabel smiled, “Anyone else wanna eat th-”

“Yes.” Ryo leaned across and then began to eat it.

Rantaro just picked at his warm pudding. It was good, in his opinion, but he just grew bored of the dish. He was still hungry, feeling the rumbling of his stomach, but his mind was stuck on something else. He didn’t know what. He glanced at Ryo eating. Then at Lauren eating next to him. He continued to look at them. Ryo. Lauren. Ryo. Lauren. It was like he was confused about something.

“Yo, Rantaro,” Rantaro turned his head back at Ryo, “You want this?”

Ryo held onto a plate of three cookies, with chocolate chips oozing out of every open they could find. They appeared crisp, thanks to Isabel, and they smelt like cocoa. Rantaro nodded and took the plate,

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Rantaro took a bite of one. Chocolate dripped out of the cookie and onto the plate. It tasted like sweetness. His mom used to make cookies like this when it was just him and her. The last time that happened was when he was...seven. His mom being 26 or something. It was fun. Rantaro missed being alone with his mom.

Rantaro realized he spaced out again. The cookie was cold now. He ate it. Then he ate the other ones. He felt a tap on his shoulder, turning around to see Lauren with a face full of smushed icing and cream. She stuck her tongue out at him, kinda like making a funny face to lighten his mood. Rantaro smiled and poked at one of her cheeks,

_ Your face is dirty. _

_ I like dirty,  _ Lauren signed back,  _ Where are the napkins, though? _

Just when Lauren asked, the same guy that helped Cooper and Mizusu with moving the tables came back in the dining room with napkins, probably stuff he found at the storage room. He placed them near the plates of treats, adjusting them as neatly as possible. The guy actually appeared neat and tidy as well: Nicely combed brown hair that was a bit long, clear glasses that fit his face perfectly, pressed clothes without a single wrinkle with a long jacket that hung at his arms. Basically the definition of “Mr. Clean” if he had hair and was possibly younger.

_ That guy put napkins down just now,  _ Rantaro signed,  _ Want me to get some for you? _

Lauren nodded,  _ Thank you. _

Rantaro got up from the table and went over to the guy setting down the napkins. The guy was too focused with the napkins to even notice Rantaro walking up to him, so he tapped on his shoulder,

“Uh, hey! Is it okay if I grab a few of those?” Rantaro pointed at the napkins, to which the guy nodded and handed him a few, “Cool, thanks!”

“Anytime. Do you need a few more?” The guy asked.

“Nah, I think this is good. Thanks again...um….”

“Hachiro Noah.”

“Got it, Hachiro,” Rantaro grinned, “Rantaro Amami, by the way, Ultimate Adventurer.”

“Ultimate Taxidermist.”

“Oh cool, see ya,” Rantaro walked away with the napkins and then handed one to Lauren, who picked it up and wiped her face. She then took another bite of her treat-filled plate: a plate full of iced cookies and cream cupcakes.

The feast grew a bit short as other teenagers felt full from the treats, everyone but Isabel though, who was still chewing on a coconut dessert. Hachiro and Cooper offered to clear up some of the food on the floor. Amber set out a few more plates just in case someone else came in the dining room and was hungry. Mizusu sat at his seat as he ran his fingers through Forty-Nine’s hair as they slept. Nico slept next to Mizusu.

Christina sat at her seat, tapping away on a pink, diamond-encrusted, slide phone, but then accidentally ended up snoozing off. Zuri and Isabel were in the kitchen washing a few dishes after Isabel finished her coconut dessert. Lauren was rubbing her face with the napkins. And Ryo was nowhere to be seen.

“Hey, uh, Mizusu?” Rantaro leaned across the table, “You’ve seen Ryo anywhere?”

“Last time I saw him, he got up to use the restroom,” Mizusu stood out of his seat, “I’m guessing he doesn’t have his walkie talkie?”

“Last time he did, he gave it to you since I had the other one.”

“Oh right,” Mizusu wiped one of his hands with a napkin, “Well, like I said, he’s in the restroom. So unless it’s something alerting, you probably don’t have to worry about talking to him right now.”

“Yeah, okay, I’m still gonna check though.”

“Alright, I’m not stopping you.”

“Good, see ya.” Rantaro walked out of the dining room and just stared at the shower house door before deciding on taking a “shortcut.” He took the hallway right in front of the dining room door. The hallway had beautiful paintings and had only one light planted on the ceiling, but the light slowly flickered off as Rantaro ventured deeper and deeper into the hallway. He could see a blue door to the right of the hallway, but he wasn’t curious enough to open it.

Rantaro then saw the dark section again from the other side. The bathroom with the dead birds. Rantaro saw Ryo sprint out of the Boys bathroom as a girl ran after him and a feminine looking person ran after the girl. Ryo collapsed into Rantaro’s arms and quickly tried hiding behind him. The girl’s arms were pulled back by the person.

“Rantaro...She’s...She’s fucking crazy holy shit….” Ryo panted out, to which the girl threw a bunch of verbal and hurtful insults at him, “I was trying...trying to go to the bathroom, right? And I saw that dude near the sink,” Ryo pointed at the feminine looking person, “And I said something like ‘I think you’re in the wrong bathroom’ and, turns out, they’re a fucking guy..and I upset their little sister ‘cus of it and now sh-”

“Well who the hell are you to assume?!” The girl spat out.

“I didn’t know, okay?!” Ryo held onto Rantaro’s shoulders tightly. Rantaro stepped in,

“It was a mistake on Ryo’s part, I’m sure he apologized-

“I did.”

“Ok, so Ryo apologized to your brother. I’m sure your brother forgave him, right?”

“Actually I didn’t even hear him from her screaming,” The boy stated, “But yeah I forgive him. Happens to me all the time so I’m used to it.” He smiled and took a step forward with his hand out, “I hope we can both start over from this, Elaine Reignn. Ultimate Ventriloquist.”

“And! Before you say anything, our mom thought he was a girl when he was born because of how much hair he had,” Elaine’s sister butted in, “But  _ my _ name is Coco Reignn and I’m the Ultimate Furry!” Coco looked at her brother, “Oh oh! Make Ms. Jackie introduce herself!”

“Who?” Rantaro appeared puzzled on what Coco meant.

“Ms. Jackie! Duh! Elaine’s clown puppet!” Coco shook her brother’s arm, “Take her out! Take her ouuutt!”

Elaine took out a medium-sized puppet with pink and rainbow all over. The puppet wore a colorful clown suit and tiny little clown shoes. Ryo and Rantaro just stared at the puppet as Elaine made it talk,

“Hey Hi Hello! My name is Ms. Jackie!” Ms. Jackie waved an arm at Rantaro and Ryo, “I’m your one and only, lovable, happy-go-lucky clown best friend! Happy to meet you two boys! What’s your names?”

“....Uhh..” Rantaro glanced at Ryo who stood silent, eyes squeezed shut, “I’m..um..Rantaro Amami, Ultimate Adventurer. And this is Ryo Shoto, Ultimate Guitarist.”

Elaine put away Ms. Jackie then looked at Ryo, “Sorry Ryo, does she scare you?”

Ryo nodded, “Uh, yeah, I’m not too fond of clowns, to be honest.”

“Oh, that’s understandable, my bad,” Elaine put his hands behind his back.

“Why’re you scared of clowns?” Coco skipped up to the two boys. She kinda stood at their height, maybe 5’8.

“I’m not really comfortable with sharing that information yet,” Ryo rubbed his arm, “Let’s just say that I had a bad past with them..”

“Ohh, gotcha.” Coco skipped back to where Elaine stood. Ryo decided to go back to the dining room. 

Rantaro just stood there while the brother-and-sister team just looked at him. They appeared to be just like each other: Both were pale and Vietnamese, almost at the same height but Elaine was a little taller. Their hair was colored in crazy ways. Coco’s hair was mainly purple, pink and blue, with green roots at the top and bleached blonde bangs. Elaine’s was the same, with a little yellow and brown here and there, except his side bangs were curled and pink. They both had unique styles of clothing also, them both wearing puffy skirts and fishnet arm warmers.

“Soooo,” Coco rubbed her leg against her other leg, “I dunno when we'll see Ryo again, but if we don’t, can you tell him that I’m sorry for scaring him?”

“Yeah, no problem,” Rantaro nodded, “Oh, uh, by the way, are you hungry?”

“Mhm!”

“Oh good! ‘Cus there’s a dining room right down the hall here, and we still have a few more treats lef-”

Before Rantaro could finish, Coco and Elaine ran down the hall to eat the treats. He turned around to follow them but then stopped. He remembered the door to the right of the hall he passed. Maybe he could find some other people to finish off the treats! That sounded like a good idea.

Rantaro went towards the door when he saw Cooper and Nico leaving the dining room. He waved at them and Cooper went to Rantaro while Nico slowly trudged along. Nico wiped her eyes in exhaustion, but managed to reach the door as well.

“Heard what Ryo said...in the dining room,” Nico yawned, “About Coco and Elaine..”

“What did Ryo say?”

“He said...um...that Coco wasss...s..scaring him or something an….and Elaine had this fuckin’ puppet that scared the shit outta him..” Nico almost dozed off again while explaining, but Cooper struck her in the arm to wake her up a bit.

“He also mentioned that you kinda calmed the two down so that’s a plus,” Cooper patted Rantaro on the back, “Good job, mate!”

“Thanks, I guess,” Rantaro messed with the doorknob, “So, uh, wanna join me?” He opened the door a bit just in case it would be just him on this door-opening journey.

“Yeah,” Nico shoved her way through the two boys and went inside. Cooper and Rantaro followed her inside to the mysterious room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading Chapter 5: The Feast (Part 2)


End file.
